2017-18 Season in Ratings: Most Watched Formats on U.S. TV

It was a season of singing talent shows and one big newcomer. Analysis of final ratings for the 2017-2018 season.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

It was the season of singing talent shows - at least in terms of volume. However, U.S. reality & entertainment industry has provided some surprises in 2017-18.'The Bachelor' lost its position of season's nr. 1 format in young 18-49 demo as it decreased by 0.8 rating point over previous season. The leadership was regained by NBC singing talent competition 'The Voice' that didn't lose as much audience as 'The Bachelor'.
Veteran reality show 'Survivor' continues with stable performance, averaging 2.4 rating in the 18-49 (live+7) in cycles 35 and 36, lacking just 0.1 rating point behind 'The Voice'.
There's a new big success on U.S. format market: NBC game show 'Ellen's Game of Games', which ranks as the #4 most watched R&E format in USA in its freshman season. NBC first aired special December preview following 'The Voice' and then launched the regular season in January as Tuesday night opener. The strategy helped establishing the new show very well, with 2.3 season average rating in the demo, leading to season 2 renewal.
The format, marketed as a game show bringing "supersized versions of the most popular and hilariously fun games from The Ellen DeGeneres Show" also proved solid international potential; following the market premiere in April at MIPTV 2018 in Cannes, Warner Bros. sold format rights to Antena 3 in Spain, as reported by Variety.
Competition on broadcast TV market increased in the singing genre. Awaited return of 'American Idol', a show with the budget estimated at $2 million an episode according to The Hollywood Reporter, returned to U.S. screens with 2.1 rating in the demo (2.0 on Mondays, respectively). That's better than ABC 2017-18 average but below 2.6-2.9 ratings that the show generated in its last season on Fox in 2014-15 (read the full rating analysis here).
Also from the same genre comes 'The Four' that performed 1.4 rating on Fox; slightly below channel's season average but still being renewed season 2. The formats marks the return of the Israeli-based distributor Armoza Formats to U.S. broadcast TV industry.

Ratings of prime time unscripted formats in 2017-18 season
(September 2017-May 2018. Target group 18-49, broadcast TV only. All data are “most current,” meaning inclusion of time shifted viewing up to 7 days. Source: The Nielsen Company)